An amalgamation of “Google” and “Rubric”, this a Chrome Extension that allows teachers to use rubrics to “automagically” score student work. Grades are pasted into the doc and recorded in the original spreadsheet as well. Works well in conjunction with Doctopus.

This is a Learning Management System (LMS) including productivity tools such as Gmail, Drive and Docs. Teachers can make announcements, ask questions, link assignments, and comment with students in real time.

Google DocsWhen in your Google Drive: New, Google Doc

A family of Web-based applications from Google that includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentations, forms creation and cloud storage. Launched in 2006, documents can be uploaded and downloaded in Word, OpenOffice, RTF, HTML or text formats.

Google Drive is a personal cloud storage service from Google that lets users store and synchronize digital content across computers, laptops and mobile devices, including tablets and smartphone devices.

Google Forms: When in your Google Drive: New, More… Google Forms.

My tutorial on how to make an Unfailable Quiz” Using Google Forms. Google Forms is a tool that is part of Google Drive for creating surveys, tests, or web input forms. Google forms allows anyone to create an easy-to-use web form, and each user’s response is placed into a row of a corresponding spreadsheet. Google now allows you to create a “quizzes” – which is their term for any graded form. Google form quizzes compute the average assignment score, the average score per question, and shows you a grade distribution graph. Teachers have the option to allow students to see their results immediately or at a later time, as well as to email each student a copy of their quiz answers, with or without providing an answer key.

An online adaptive platform for practicing grammar and usage skills which instantly differentiates, uses student interests to build questions, and track progress toward mastery of Common Core and state standards.

My 2 minute video tutorial. Read Theory provides passages and text-dependent questions for comprehension assessment on each student’s grade level. It also provides the reasons why each answer choice is right or wrong, so students can reflect and improve with practice. Read Theory adapts to student performance. This means the reading difficulty level may change after each quiz. The reading grade level may go up, down, or remain unchanged based on the score from the text-dependent questions.

This is one of several free online word cloud generators online. Try making a word cloud using a short story text and use it as an anticipation guide before reading.

]]>https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/11/18/vol-107-ncte-presentation/feed/0rickylynne76Vol.#106: EdPuzzle 2 Minute Tech Tutorialhttps://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/08/21/vol-106-edpuzzle-2-minute-tech-tutorial/
https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/08/21/vol-106-edpuzzle-2-minute-tech-tutorial/#commentsMon, 21 Aug 2017 21:55:00 +0000http://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/?p=4238Continue reading Vol.#106: EdPuzzle 2 Minute Tech Tutorial→]]>I’ve been meaning to make this tool into a “2 Minute Tech Tutorial” for a while now. EdPuzzle turns any video into a lesson. Students can’t skip ahead in the videos (unless you select to let them) but they can rewatch. The teacher’s dashboard shows you if they rewatched any sections of the video. It’s great for flipping instruction to teach new concepts and skills, or reviewing already-taught information.

So if I am being honest, I’d spent way too much time perseverating over completing this. My advice? Just jump in and do it. It’s only ten dollars, so you have little to lose. I mostly ended up scanning the topics and looking for YouTube tutorials on a few topics I was less familiar with. It was a good experience being a learner again. Teachers forget the test-taking experience. Onward to level two!

]]>https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/07/24/vol-105-google-certified/feed/0rickylynne76GCE_Badges_01Vol.#104: Publishedhttps://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/04/09/vol-104-published/
https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/04/09/vol-104-published/#respondMon, 10 Apr 2017 02:10:06 +0000http://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/?p=4172Continue reading Vol.#104: Published→]]>Even though I have been writing here for several years now, I’ve never considered myself “published”. Last fall, I was approached about writing on the flipped model of instruction in ELA when my student teacher’s professor came to observe me last year.

It’s a university textbook, so I guess I shouldn’t be so shocked that it is so expensive, but still! Yikes!

]]>https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/04/09/vol-104-published/feed/0rickylynne76type-1161952_1280Vol.#103: The Unfailable Quizhttps://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/04/02/vol-103-the-unfailable-quiz/
https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/04/02/vol-103-the-unfailable-quiz/#commentsMon, 03 Apr 2017 01:58:03 +0000http://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/?p=4163Continue reading Vol.#103: The Unfailable Quiz→]]>When I publish a new tech tutorial, it is blog worthy here too? Do I need a separate “vlog”? Is cross-posting about my new YouTube video as a post on my Teaching Speaks Volumes facebook page as well as here on TSV wordpress obnoxious, or just good marketing?

]]>https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/04/02/vol-103-the-unfailable-quiz/feed/2rickylynne76Vol.#102: NCCAT Revisitedhttps://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/03/23/vol-102-nccat-revisited/
https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/03/23/vol-102-nccat-revisited/#respondFri, 24 Mar 2017 01:24:31 +0000http://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/?p=4029Continue reading Vol.#102: NCCAT Revisited→]]>This week, I went to the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching and attended the usually funny and always insightful sessions of Dr. Deb Teitelbaum during a program entitled “Teaching Beyond the EOG“. I hadn’t been to NCCAT since June 2012 as a Kenan Fellow. I wrote about that experience way back in Volume #5 when TSV was in its infancy.

I have taught middle school language arts for seventeen years, have a master’s degree in teaching, and am twice national board certified. One might wonder if there were professional development that could significantly improve upon the instruction of a teacher with this much time and training already dedicated to perfecting the craft. However, this week at NCCAT will unquestionably make a profound impact on teaching and learning in my classroom. I appreciated learning, practicing, discussing, and analyzing research-based pedagogical strategies. The time we were given to create materials using these high-quality strategies and then share them with each other was particularly valuable.

I learned about one particular strategy for students completing nonfiction passages on standardized assessments. This nonfiction strategy didn’t have a catchy name or clever acronym, as most all pedagogical techniques do. I was initially very skeptical, since it called for students to not necessarily read the entire passage. (*gulp*) Then we actually used the strategy on an 8th grade EOG passage. I got 100% of the questions correct. This was clearly a game changer.

I determined that to be comfortable using it with my students, I needed to convey to my students that I was not saying, “only read these parts”, but how to mark what to go back and reread as they completed the questions. After all, to get every question correct, I never read all of the body paragraphs, but I did read one of them three or four times.

So, with this message as my goal and my penchant for designing these types of things, I created an alliterative name and an analogy to using GPS technology. These are the resulting directions for students. I am most excited to use it with my students in the coming weeks.

]]>https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/03/23/vol-102-nccat-revisited/feed/0rickylynne76Screen Shot 2017-03-23 at 8.40.48 PMVol.#101: Hiatushttps://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/03/13/vol-101-hiatus/
https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/03/13/vol-101-hiatus/#respondTue, 14 Mar 2017 01:49:37 +0000http://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/?p=3982Continue reading Vol.#101: Hiatus→]]>It has been exactly one year to the day that I have posted anything here at TSV.

I’d built today day up as sort of “D-day”. Either I needed to start to publish again, or accept that I just wasn’t going to be blogging anymore. And since I am not ready to make that decision, here I sit, writing without being sure of what I want to say.

No small part in this hiatus has been my adjusting to changes on all fronts. In this year’s time, I have sold and bought a house, changed schools to a new school in its inaugural year, and changed both my children’s school as well. I’ve had a student teacher. I’ve been a contributing author in a book “Applying the Flipped Method to English Language Arts”, currently in press. However, saying “I’ve been busy” is an oversimplification that borders on disingenuous.

Mostly, I have been struggling with what to even say in regards to the state of education in the current political climate. It’s not that there hasn’t been much to discuss, goodness knows. Betsy DeVos’s appointment alone should have warranted a diatribe or two from me. I’m just… struggling with outrage overload. Also, I’ve been feeling like what I post doesn’t “don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.” In the face of all of the problems with the current direction in education, my posting about teaching just seems so…futile.

I realize educators, more than ever, need rallying cries and inspiration, not the fruitless twaddle that’s been bouncing around in my head lately. To that end, I am closing TSV post #101 with the brilliance of Bald Piano Guy. He does both with musical talent and humor:

]]>https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2017/03/13/vol-101-hiatus/feed/0rickylynne76Vol.#100: Read Theory Tutorialhttps://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2016/03/13/vol-100-read-theory-tutorial/
https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2016/03/13/vol-100-read-theory-tutorial/#commentsMon, 14 Mar 2016 01:59:00 +0000http://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/?p=3952Continue reading Vol.#100: Read Theory Tutorial→]]>My principal encourages us to be able to explain the great work we do at our school in a “five floor elevator speech”. I like the vivid case for brevity when delivering powerful information. Therefore, in honor of the one hundredth volume, I have created the first installment of what I hope will be a recurring series here on TSV: “Tech Tool Tutorials for Teachers in Two Minutes”.

There are so many tools and teachers have so little time. They need to know what tools are worth their time exploring further. Plus, as a language arts teacher, I’m a sucker for alliteration.

Have a tech tool you’d like to see me cover in two minutes? Make sure to leave it in the comments!

]]>https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2016/03/13/vol-100-read-theory-tutorial/feed/3rickylynne76Vol.#99: Missing Work Memeshttps://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2016/02/22/vol-99-missing-work-memes/
https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2016/02/22/vol-99-missing-work-memes/#respondMon, 22 Feb 2016 15:59:14 +0000http://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/?p=3922Continue reading Vol.#99: Missing Work Memes→]]>As a teacher, one of the most difficult things to do is get students to complete and turn in missing work. I feel I am constantly chasing down students who have not yet submitted an assignment. I have too many students missing work to speak to every student individually. I have tried emailing parents, but this has not been very effective. Also, parents become dependent on an email and instead of being appreciative, they are angry when I do not email about every single missing assignment.

I’d tried a colleague’s method of writing all the names of students who are missing work on the board, but that was very time-consuming. I then moved to printing the missing assignment report the computer gradebook program can create. I would post this by my door. This was simple and worked well initially, but students eventually stopped checking. They did not seem to notice when the list was changed and new names or assignments had appeared. The novelty had worn off.

I decided I needed a way to indicate that a new list was posted. My students love memes, so I decided I would change my meme when I changed the list. This would catch their attention and let them know the list was updated.

During a nine week quarter, I would post a meme and an updated missing work list twice before interims and twice after interims but before report cards. For example, it might look something like this:

Week 1 = begin quarter

Week 2 = collecting grades

Week 3 = post missing work list

Week 4 = post missing work list

Week 5 = Interims

Week 6 = collecting grades

Week 7 =post missing work list

Week 8 = post missing work list

Week 9 = Report Cards

Since I post the lists by my door, it has facilitated some great conversations with my students during class changes. As I stand by the door during transitions, I can glance at the reports and talk to students as they come and go.

What are some strategies you use to facilitate getting your students’ missing work? Please share tricks of the trade in the comments!

]]>https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2016/02/22/vol-99-missing-work-memes/feed/0rickylynne76Screen Shot 2016-02-22 at 10.23.25 AMVol. #98: 2015 in Reviewhttps://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2016/01/11/vol-98-2015-in-review/
https://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/2016/01/11/vol-98-2015-in-review/#commentsMon, 11 Jan 2016 19:10:36 +0000http://teachingspeaksvolumes.com/?p=3739Continue reading Vol. #98: 2015 in Review→]]>My unintentional hiatus from TSV had two distinct stages. At first, I was buried in an unusually busy second quarter. School Improvement Plan Co-Chair on a re-write year, Department Co-Chair, a student teacher starting in my class, the usual day-to-day chaos teachers deal with, all in addition to being a mom of two very active boys…all overcame my weekly writing aspirations.

However, then my year-round calendar afforded me some time, and I entered a second stage. I was at a loss as to how to re-enter orbit. I couldn’t think of a topic that would acknowledge and/or make up for the absence. I wanted to set the right tone, or at least find a way to transition onto future posts.

Then, my digital PLC came to my rescue, as they often do. I read this post by the faithful blogger Bill Ferriter, and I had my answer! A top-five list of posts from 2015? Perfect.

My top-viewed page by far was the “Home Page/Archives” which is the main blog page when someone is viewing a current post. I took that out of the equation.

So, without further ado, here are the five archived posts with the highest number of page views during the 2015 calendar year:

3. “Vol. #82: Read Theory” I’m thrilled the post about this specific tech tool was passed around in 2015. I still use Read Theory in my classroom, now even more than when I wrote this post. What a great free tool.

1. Excluding the Home Page and Archives, the most viewed post in 2015 was “Vol. #84: Is This A Grade?”. Frustrated and annoyed from hearing this question, I set out to never answer it again. And I haven’t. Objective achieved.

So there you have it, the top 5 posts with the most views in 2015. I can’t wait to see what 2016 brings. Requests, suggestions, or observations for posts in the new year? Please leave them in the comments!